Drawing the Holocaust : a teenager's memory of Terezin, Birkenau, and Mauthausen / Michael Kraus ; translated by Paul Wilson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kraus, Michal, 1930- author.

Contributor:

Wilson, Paul R. (Paul Robert), 1941- translator.

Standardized Title:

Deník 1942-5. English

Language:

Czech

English

Subjects (All):

Kraus, Michal, 1930-.

Kraus, Michal.

Theresienstadt (Concentration camp).

Birkenau (Concentration camp).

Mauthausen (Concentration camp).

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Czech Republic--Trutnov--Personal narratives.

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945).

Jewish children in the Holocaust--Czech Republic--Trutnov--Biography.

Jewish children in the Holocaust.

Trutnov (Czech Republic)--Biography.

Trutnov (Czech Republic).

Czech Republic--Trutnov.

Genre:

Autobiographies.

Biographies.

Personal narratives.

Physical Description:

xvi, 128 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Cincinnati, OH : Hebrew Union College Press ; Pittsburgh, PA : University of Pittsburgh Press, [2016]

Summary:

"Twelve-year-old Michael Kraus began keeping a diary while he was still living at home in the Czech city of Nachod but continued writing while a prisoner at Theresienstadt (Terezín). When he was shipped with other prisoners to the death camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau, all of his writings were confiscated and destroyed. After his liberation and while convalescing, he began to draw and make notes again about his experiences in Theresienstadt, in Auschwitz, the first death march out of Mauthausen, and its satellite camps, in Melk and Gunskirchen. As a teenager confronting the traumas of these experiences, Kraus found that recording his memories in words and pictures helped him overcome his hatred for those who had murdered his parents. The process of writing and drawing also helped him begin the painful transition to a so-called normal life. As a survivor, Kraus also felt the need to recount his experiences for the benefit of future generations, especially on behalf of the many who did not survive. The present edition makes this memoir, originally written in Czech and significant for having been written so close to the author's liberation, widely available to English readers for the first time. It also reproduces pages from the original booklets that show how the teenage Kraus illustrated his memories with pencil drawings that both complement and extend his story, giving readers a sense of its character as an unusual and important historical document"-- Provided by publisher.

"Fifteen-year-old Michael Kraus began keeping a diary while he was still living at home in the Czech city of Nachód but continued writing while a prisoner at Theresienstadt (Terezín). His memoir, originally written in Czech, and significant for having been written so close to the author's liberation, is made available to English readers for the first time. It also reproduces pages from the that show how the teenage Kraus illustrated his memories with pencil drawings that both complement and extend his personal Holocaust story"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Preface 2

I Ghetto Terezín 1942-1943

Transport 5

The Home in Hannover Barracks 6

Danger! 9

The Great Roll Call 11

Departure 11

The Journey 13

II Birkenau 1943-1945

Graveyard of the Victims of Nazism 15

Family Camp B.II.B, December 1943-July 1944 15

Arrival 15

Showers 19

Daycare 23

March 7th 24

Arrival! 27

Time Limit Ends, Danger Increases 31

We Take Leave-The Liquidation of B.II.b 31

Life Without Parents 35

Men's Camp B.II.d 35

The Front Draws Closer 39

Difficult Wandering 40

III Mauthausen

The Second Camp 45

Melk 53

Back to Mauthausen 64

Third Camp 66

Tent Camp 72

Gunskirchen 75

The Big Day-May 7th, 1945-Liberation 78

IV Post-War Hardships

Under the Care of the Us Army 81

Hörsching 81

Journey Home 91

Camp in Linz 95

By Steamboat on the Danube 99

On Red Army Territory 101

Transfer in Melk 101

Journey by Train 104

Wiener Neustadt 105

On Foot to Our Homeland 109

Home Again 110

Bratislava 110

Prague 113

The Convalescent Home 114

Photos 116

Family Before the War 116

The Terezín Newspaper "Kamarád" 118

The Other Deported Children 120

Transition to "Normal" Life 122.

Notes:

"The Paul Wilson translation and select images were previiously published in the Czech Republic by Kvartus Media (2013) as Diary: 1942-1945, Notes of the fifteen year old Miša Kraus who survived the Holocaust."-- Title page verso.

ISBN:

9780822944553

0822944553

OCLC:

930683551